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WAGE ASSIGNMENTS LAWS IN PA...HELP!!

Submitted by haven228 on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 07:24
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I sent an email to my Payroll department, informing them of my payday loan issues, that I am revoking the wage assignments, and they told me that it's too late once I default on the loans. From what I have read, it is voluntary, and can be revokded at anytime...they said they will have to honor the ge assignment if it comes to them. I cannot find any laws anywhere that can help me clarify this...anyone have any suggestions where I can prove this, and send to my payroll department?
Thank you!


The voluntary transfer in advance of a debtor's pay, generally in connection with a particular debt or judg- ment.

A debtor may negotiate with a creditor a wage assignment plan in which a portion of the debtor's paycheck is transferred to the creditor by the employer. This voluntary agreement is in contrast to garnishment, in which a creditor obtains an order from the court to collect part of a debtor's wages from the employer. Both wage assignments and garnishment are governed by statutes in most states.

A wage assignment is similar to an assignment for benefit of creditors, in which the debtor assigns personal property to a trustee. Typically, the trustee sells the property and applies the proceeds to the debt. Any amount in excess of the debt is returned to the debtor.

Since the 1980s wage assignments have become an important method of making child support payments in the United States. In 1984 the federal government required all states to implement child support guidelines for welfare recipients. As time passed, those guidelines were implemented across the board in all cases involving child support. While a wage assignment has typically been viewed as a voluntary act by the assignee, courts now issue wage assignment orders directing employers to withhold child support payments and send the funds to a designated recipient such as a custodial parent, the court, or a state agency.

Although the paying parent may be a responsible individual who would never miss a payment, and the recipient parent may honestly report all payments received, the wage assignment eliminates potential conflict by using a neutral third party to implement the paying and reporting of payments. Employers generally do not impute bad character to an employee paying child support through a wage assignment, and the courts routinely issue orders without finding fault. Wage assignment orders are appropriate for salaried employees but do not work effectively for self-employed individuals or people in cash businesses.

A wage assignment may also be used when an employee obtains a loan from his employer and wants to repay the loan by having the employer withhold money from future paychecks. An employer who lends an employee a sum of money cannot take it out of the employee's next paycheck without a proper, written, notarized assignment from the employee. State statutes require that legal formalities be followed, or the withholding of money can be considered an unlawful assignment of wages.


Submitted by danilewis82 on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 10:45

danilewis82

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Thanks...although I'm not really sure what this means? My payroll department said that once I defaulted on the loan, I cannot revoke the wage assignment. They will proceed with the request from CTC, or any company that send the paperwork in...this is the opposite of what is being discussed on the boards. Are the laws different in each state?


Submitted by haven228 on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 11:03

haven228

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Legal Status: Prohibited

Citation:
Check cashers are specifically prohibited from making payday loans under Check Cashing Licensing Act of 1998, ???? 505(a). Otherwise, consumer discount company act applies. 7 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. ???? 6201 et seq.

Small Loan Rate Cap
$9.50 per $100 per year discount or 24% per year

Where to Complain, Get Information:
Regulator: Pennsylvania Department of Banking
Address: Market Square Plaza, 17 N. Second Street Harrisburg PA 17101
Phone: (717) 214-8343
Fax: (717) 787-8773
Regulatory Contact: Jim Keiser Administrator of Non-Depository Institutions


Submitted by danilewis82 on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 11:11

danilewis82

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it clearly states in black and white that payday loans are prohibited in your state, i would send a copy of this to your hr dept, some people don't know how these things work, and in that case should not even be in that field(i hate that) in any case, call the number listed above and tell them of your situation.


Submitted by danilewis82 on Mon, 08/25/2008 - 11:13

danilewis82

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unconsolidated Pennsylvania Statutes

LABOR (TITLE 43)

ASSIGNMENT OF WAGES

43 P.S. ???? 271. Assignment of future wages: payment in money
No assignment of future wages payable semi-monthly, under the provisions of this act, shall be valid, nor shall any agreement be valid that relieves the said firms, individuals, corporations or associations from the obligation to pay semi-monthly, and in the lawful money of the United States.


Submitted by goudah2424 on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 07:06

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goudah posted that the wage assisgnment has to be signed by your spouse also, so when you apply for the payday loan your spouse has to also sign the wage assingment. so if they didn't then the payday loan company cannot go after your wages b/c the assignment is not legal. Right?


Submitted by on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 09:19

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I have sent the revocation of the wage assignment letter to CTC, and a couple other loan places; when I sent up to my corporate office, they said I cannot revoke the assignment AFTER I defaulted, and they would have to honor any request that came in. Apparently, they have done this before, because the Payroll person told me that the pdl's sometimes go after the loan plus 100 percent, and encouraged me to make payment arrangements.
How should I handle?


Submitted by on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 10:42

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Cash Transfer Centers refuse to make payment arrangements.
They are illegal...I guess I need to prove to my payroll Dept that they are not liscensed anywhere in the US, so that the loan is not legal in PA.
Does anyone know where I can get info about PDL companies, if they are liscensed or not?


Submitted by haven228 on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 11:58

haven228

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I think you're all missing the correct way of dealing with the payroll company. I would do this:

1. Politely inform the payroll company of the fact that Cash Transfer Centers is not licensed to do business in your state.

2. In the same conversation, politely ask your payroll company to request a copy of the business license from Cash Transfer Centers (along with their wage assignment request) that allows them to do business in your state.

3. Smile when Cash Transfer Centers can't produce the business license.

Problem solved.


Submitted by on Sun, 09/07/2008 - 21:58

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What do you do when a company like Tremont sends not only a wage assignment but also a court order from a small claims court in South Dakota?

What do you do when the pdl sens a wage assignment that's written to look like a court order to the untrained eye?

What do you do if you're not lucky enough to live in a state like Pennsylvania where it's illegal for the employer to honor a wage assignment unless it fits into a a very narrow set of exceptions?

What do you do when your employer decides it's not worth it to him/her to pay their attorney a couple of hundred bucks to tell them whether they are required to honor it?

Smile?


Submitted by FreakyFriday on Mon, 09/08/2008 - 07:08

FreakyFriday

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Here's what I find when I look up Pennsylvania law on wage assignments:

43 P.S. ???? 271: No assignment of future wages payable semi-monthly, under the provisions of this act, shall be valid, nor shall any agreement be valid that relieves the said firms, individuals, corporations or associations from the obligation to pay semi-monthly, and in the lawful money of the United States.

43 P.S. ???? 273: No assignment of, or order for, wages or salary to be earned in the future, to secure a loan, shall be valid against the employer of the person making said assignment or order, unless said assignment or order is accepted, in writing, by the employer.


Submitted by FreakyFriday on Mon, 09/08/2008 - 17:34

FreakyFriday

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